What I Would Give (previously A Fairy's Tail)
by The Laughing Willow
Summary: In the wake of Fairy Tail's win at the GMG, Lucy finds herself experiencing strange dreams; visions of a terrible future. With the help of her spirits, her guild, and the light of Fairy Tail, our favorite celestial mage intends to beat back the darkness that threatens to swallow the world. Eventual LucyXLaxus, Lalu. Side pairings included.
1. Dreams and Distractions

**Hello and welcome sports fans to my second published FanFiction! I know few people will actually read this part, so I'll make it short. This is my first Fairy Tail fic and as a warning it will likely include violence, gore (but not of the Al variety), foul language, possible character death (no one from Fairy Tail though), and potentially explicit scenes (if I can find the courage). Know that we jump right into the plot here. Please notify me of any errors you may see if there are any!  
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**A quick shout out to my invaluable Beta Reader, Kiteria Faye! I thank you for everything you've done! And on with the show!**

**Disclaimer: All rights reserved for Fairy Tail creator, Hiro Mashima. **

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**A Fairy's Tail: Chapter 1**

**Dreams and Distractions**

By: Thorn

_"Lucy."_

"No. Go away. Leave me alone."

_"Why do you ignore me? Lucy, I have so much to give you. Come to me. Come to me, Lucy, child of heaven."_

"No, I don't wanna." Lucy tossed in her sleep, her half-coherent mumblings becoming even more distorted by her pillow.

_"You will come. I know you will."_

"No. I won't."

_"Oh, but you will. War is upon us Lucy. You know it. You've sensed it, just as I have seen it. The dark descends upon us. What will you do, my little spirit mage? You and your friends, and the entire human race are at a loss. The Gates of Hell are opening and they will unleash upon the world an evil that will devour us all. Your friends who hold so steadfast to the light will be the first to fall, and once they're dead and gone what will you do? When only you are left, how will you live? Could you even live with yourself after everyone you know and love is dead?"_

Images. So many images. Dark and terrible ones of twisted corpses, charred and blackened, shriveled or melted. Images that could never be bleached from the mind, terrified the spirit mage. And blood; blood enough to fill a river or sea as it stained her mind.

The voice spoke again, this time with a slight remorseful tone to it.

_"Is this what you want my dear? To walk alone in this hell upon the Earth? For this is the fate that shall befall us all should you stay away. That pink haired one, he will be one of the first."_

An image of Natsu, or what was left of him, came to Lucy's mind, and tears fell from her tightly clenched eyes. Her dearest friend and partner lay on the ground, his body strewn across the broken timbers of what was once their guild hall. His mouth was open, little fangs bared, in anger or outrage, but his eyes were unseeing, blank, and most obviously dead. His throat was nothing but a red and torn mess of crimson flesh as if it had been simply ripped out.

"No." She was sobbing now.

There was almost unnoticeable sympathy in the voice now.

_"Then the young."_

Wendy and Romeo, hands clutched tight within the palms of the other, had faces which were frozen in contorted pain. Another scene. Asuka lay propped against a crumbling stone, peaceful, as though she were asleep while her body was blanketed in ash and blood. Her parents, Bisca's and Alzacs's, bodies lay only feet away.

"No!" Lucy shouted, but the voice continued.

_"And soon enough, everyone will be gone."_

And they were. The scene changed again, and Lucy found herself standing in a lone field, the wildflowers were dry and withering, smoldering trees lined what was likely once a beautiful place. Wind whistled past her ears but there was little sound to be carried to her.

"Why are you doing this to me? Why do you torture me so? What have I done to you?" She whispered pitifully since the voice hadn't listened to her shouting.

_"Nothing, my dear. I do not show you this to torment you. I do this to save you and those you love. I show you only the truth as it will come to pass, nothing more and nothing less. We want the same thing, we are allies, you see."_

"And what is this shared want of ours, then?" She asked bitterly. Lucy walked forward in the landscape, her steps crackling as she moved.

_"Fairy Tail."_

"Fairy Tail? What do you want with my guild?"

_"Not yours, dear. Ours. It is our guild and our kin who we want to keep safe."_

In the corner of her eye she could see a light, and as she turned, she found a sphere of pure blue-white light hovering just a hairsbreadth off the ground. On its face was the Fairy Tail mark in an inky black color, but it seemed somehow transparent. Squinting her eyes, Lucy could see there was something within it, but when she took a step closer to investigate a massive pulse was sent out in all directions from the orb. It was so intense in its power that it sucked the air from Lucy's lungs and forced her to her shaking knees. It was unlike any power she had ever felt before. It rivaled Acnologia in its abundance but was warm unlike that of the Apocalypse Dragon, near scalding in fact.

It felt like hours, but was likely mere moments, before the strange magical power ebbed away and Lucy finally found the breath to speak.

"Who are you?" She asked, but then shook her head and corrected herself. "No, what are you?"

A laugh was all she got in response at first, then the voice spoke again.

_"All in good time, my dear, all in good time."_

"No, tell me now! What do you want? Why me?!" There was a pause, as if whoever it was who was speaking to her had suddenly vanished. "Hello?"

_"Tomorrow, dear. Come to me tomorrow, and all will be explained."_ The light orb began to fade.

"No, please, wait!" But the light continued to diminish, the scene fading.

_"Tomorrow, Lucy. Come to Me."_

"No!" Lucy sat straight up in bed, panting from exertion and her hand outstretched into the still darkness of the early morning. "No." she whispered.

It had happened again, and the dreams just kept getting worse. She had tried everything to banish the unsettling visions from her mind, but all attempts seemed to end in failure.

'Why now? Just when everything was starting to look up!' The whole of Fairy Tail had just arrived back home in Magnolia after their eventful reappearance at the Grand Magic Games. The celebration that had followed their homecoming had lasted well over three endless days. There had been brawls, drinking contests, glorified war stories of the past seven years' happenings, and more brawls to follow the first ones. Lucy had been quite surprised that she had lasted the entire 72 hours of partying. She held most of the credit for that to the numerous strawberry margaritas she had downed in place of the whiskey and tequila everyone else seemed to be partaking in.

The night after the memorable party had been when the dreams had started. That had been eight days ago, and they had distressed Lucy to such a point that she had yet to return to the guild. She had a feeling the others were worried for her, but after Natsu had paid a visit to her after the first two days, no one else had come to check on her. That suited Lucy just fine.

Natsu's visit had been enough to reduce her to a sobbing, hyperventilating mess. She had held herself together until her friend had left her apartment; it was after that she slid down her wall and fell deep into a panic attack. Loke had felt her very clear distress and had immediately forced his gate open to check on her. It had taken him nearly an hour to finally calm her down enough for her to tell him what had made her so upset.

The lion spirit was understandably concerned for his master, and had refused to leave her until he knew for certain she would be fine. Since then he continually returned to check on her at least twice a day just in case. It was sweet, and Lucy appreciated it. The last thing she wanted right then was to be alone. He was normally there when she first woke from her nightmares; she was only minimally surprised that he hadn't shown up yet.

As if that thought served as a summons, there was a bright shower of golden sparks outward from the middle of her room, before they warped to form the body of the very lion she had been thinking about. He was dressed in his customary suit and tie and wore a slight grin "Forgive me, Princess. I was too busy contemplating you utter beauty that I failed to notice that you had awoken, and-"

"Loke?" Lucy interrupted.

"Yes, princess?"

"If you were on a date, then just say so. It's fine, really. You should go back, we wouldn't want you to tarnish that oh so stunning reputation of yours, making all the ladies think you're the type to just leave a woman." She joked with him, returning his grin, though hers was not near as stunning or reassuring as his. Her hair was mussed and there were dark bags beneath her eyes. Dried tear tracks could still be seen on her cheeks.

"Lucy," His smile faded, his voice quiet, "How long have you been up?"

She waved her hand absently, "Oh, not that long; a few minutes maybe." He gave her a look that clearly said he didn't believe her. "Really Loke! Maybe five minutes at the most, I promise!"

The lion spirit seemed to relax and made his way over gently taking her into his arms, stroking her hair as he sat down beside her. "Sorry I was late."

"It's fine."

"No," He replied, "No it's not. You're here scared out of your mind and I'm running off, chasing tail like some horny dog. I shouldn't even be leaving you for the spirit world, much less-"

"Loke, I said it was fine and I meant it. You have a life back in the spirit world, and I understand that." She wiggled back in his grip to get a better look at him before she grinned, "I bet she was pretty, huh?"

Loke couldn't hold back his chuckle, "Yeah, she wasn't half bad. Nowhere near your caliber of beauty of course," He said with a wink, "but I suppose a lowly lion like me doesn't deserve such perfection."

Lucy laughed outright this time, shoving her spirit away from her. "Oh shut up, you pervy lion!"

He laughed with her before they both dissolved into silence. It was a few moments before Loke decided to break the silence, "How bad were they?" He asked quietly, almost unsure if he really wanted to know the answer.

Lucy gave him a sideways look before spreading her arms wide and falling back on her bed. She sighed, "Not as bad as they usually are I guess. Not near as many bodies as there usually are."

"Who was it this time?" He asked solemnly.

Her bottom lip quivered, and Lucy hastily wiped away the tears that were swiftly forming in her brown eyes. "Just Natsu. I saw Wendy and Romeo for the first time though, Asuka, too." She whispered "But they weren't nearly as bad as Natsu, or the others."

"Anything else different?" She knew Loke was troubled, she could tell by the way he talked and how he flopped back onto the bed beside her, their outstretched arms crisscrossing.

"She talked to me."

Loke's eyes widened, and suddenly he was hovering above her. "What?"

Lucy felt slightly unsure, "Sh-she talked to me, the voice. It's a woman, I know it is now."

He looked aside, growling to himself, "Well?"

Lucy blinked in confusion, "Well, what?"

"What did it- she- say?!"

Lucy thought back. It had been difficult to remember the voice from her dreams ever since they started. She could only ever seem to notice the pictures and death from her night terrors, never the words said. She would remember little bits and pieces, but the night before seemed strangely clear though it still took effort to recall the exact word.

"She said she wanted me to come." Loke's eyes widened, and Lucy realized her mistake. She shrieked, pushing him off of her as she stood "Not that 'come' Loke, you damn pervert! She wanted me to go to her. She said she would give me something, something that would prevent everything I've seen so far from happening, and also a bunch about war, and death and the Gates of Hell." Her brow furrowed, "She called me a child of Heaven."

He tried to hide his shock, he really did, but he couldn't stop the widening of his eyes as he openly balked at his master, "She what?" He whispered. On the inside he was panicking. Someone had found out; someone knew. Not even Lucy knew, how could anyone else?

"She called me a 'Child of Heaven'" The stellar mage furrowed her brow at Loke. "What did she mean, Loke?"

"I-" He stopped himself and turned his face away, "I don't know." He whispered. There was a momentary silence, "Did- did she say anything else?"

She nodded her head, "Our guild."

"Huh?"

"Fairy Tail, she called it 'our guild.'"

"Well of course it's our guild!"

Lucy gave her spirit a flat look, "No, dumb-dumb. 'Our' guild. That's what she said, as if she were a part of it."

"So," Loke hesitated, deep in thought, "so she's a member of the guild?"

She sighed, "I don't even know. I didn't recognize her power from anywhere, I don't think. I know she isn't evil though, her power was just far too warm and- just warm. I can't explain it."

"You felt her? Her power?" Lucy nodded. "Could you recognize it again?"

She looked strangely at the spirit. "Loke I don't think I could forget that magical pressure if I tried. I'd recognize it anywhere, I'm sure of it."

The lion spirit was silent for a few minutes more, his eyes gazing out into the darkness of the too early morning. Lucy could see that he was once again deep in thought, and refrained from disturbing him. When he turned his gaze back to his master, she could see a resolve in his eyes.

"Well then," He stood, brushing the imaginary dust from his slacks, "Lucy, I suggest you get dressed."

"Huh?"

"Something comfortable," he continued, stepping forward and past Lucy "but cute, although that is a given with you, isn't it my Master? I'll return once I have attained proper clothing myself."

"Wait, Loke!" He looked back at her, "What the hell are we going to be doing? And why do I need to be dressed?"

He shot her a winning grin, "We'll be taking a vigorous run around the town of Magnolia before the sun rises, thus your need for comfortable clothing, and then proceed to the guild hall for breakfast, thus your need for _cute_ clothing."

"W-what?" Lucy was shocked, scared and nervous all at the same time, "N-no! Loke I can't! I just can't go there! Not after- after everything that I've seen. It's too hard. I can't." Her voice broke at the end and tears were leisurely making their way down her face.

Loke was in front of her in an instant, holding her at arm's length by the shoulders, "Hey now! Lucy, come on! I know it's hard, but you gotta move forward. You can't let this ruin you; you're stronger than that." His thumb wiped a tear away, "Just hear me out. If it's someone in or around Magnolia you'll easily feel it, right?" She nodded her head. "And she says she's a part of Fairy Tail, right? So we go to the guild afterwards and see if you can recognize it there. Alright?"

The stellar mage thought, and she knew her spirit was right. That did nothing to cure her nervousness, though. "Loke, I get that but I- I can't-"

"Come on Lucy. I'll be with you every step of the way. I promise. I'm not going to let anything hurt you. I haven't before, and I won't now!"

With a sigh, Lucy gave a weak smile, "I guess I had better get dressed then, huh?"

A grin stretched across Loke's face, "That's the spirit! Well, I'm the spirit," Loke winked, "but you get the point." Lucy nodded her head, smiling as Loke vanished in another shower of golden sparks and dust.

It took her all of two seconds to find proper clothes, a skimpy blue tank top and pink running shorts accompanied by her customary boots, before she made her way to the bathroom. She was reluctant to raise her gaze to the mirror, knowing that what she would see there wouldn't be pretty. Her hair was tangled and matted on one side of her head, and her cheeks were pale and wet with tears. Her normally shining brown eyes were half lidded and lackluster.

She cupped her hands to splash some cold water on her face before pulling a golden key from her belt. She knew all her spirits were worrying over her. Except Aquarius probably, but she hadn't been summoned since the GMG, something the mermaid was likely very happy about. Hopefully calling some of them out would help to ease their minds at least for a little while.

"Open, Gate of the Crab. Cancer!" After a puff of gold-colored smoke the spirit stood before her, scissors in hand.

"How can I help you, ebi?"

"Hey Cancer," Lucy replied with a light smile, "I was wondering if you could just brush my hair and put it up for me for some jogging later. I don't really feel up to it myself today."

"Of course, ebi." Though there were dark glasses over his eyes, she knew he was happy she had called him as he eagerly ushered her into the other room and sat her down of one of her plush lounge chairs. Within a few minutes, her hair was washed, brushed, shined, and put into a high, curled ponytail with little ringlets of hair framing her face. The style was a little fancy since it would likely be ruined by the end of the morning, but Lucy didn't plan on telling Cancer that.

Lucy didn't have to look at her reflection to know that she looked ten times better now. "Thank you, Cancer. You can go back now." As soon as he had left, Loke chose that moment to reappear as well.

His suit had been replaced with a green tee-shirt and cargo shorts. In his hands were two water bottles, one which he tossed to Lucy. "Ready to go, Princess?" She nodded her head the affirmative.

Their run was brisk and silent, each simply enjoying the company of the other. By nine o'clock they had circled the entire town three times and the sun was a fair ways into the sky before they set their destination on the guild hall. As they got closer to the building Loke could see his master shivering. Being the middle of spring, the air had a warm element to it, so it obviously wasn't from being cold.

He slung an arm over her shoulder as they stood just in front of the door. "Don't worry, Princess," He reassured, "I promised I wouldn't let anything happen to you. We'll just walk in, sit down, I'll buy you some food, and then we can set on finding that power source."

Lucy sighed, "I know, Loke. I'm just worried. I didn't feel so much as a trace of her power on our run though. If it is someone from Fairy Tail, I don't know how I'll react."

"Eh, no sweat! We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." And with that he pushed open the doors and immediately ducked, taking Lucy with him, as a table, three chairs, and what looked like a screaming Warren flew over their heads.

"Huh, looks like we're not the only ones who got an early start this morning." Loke grinned.

Arm in arm, to two picked their way carefully through the wreckage of the guild hall, stepping over the unconscious, and pushing each other out of the way of flying debris. Glancing around the hall, Lucy could see the main instigators of the brawl were, unsurprisingly, Gray, Natsu, and Elfman. Gray was being held in a choke hold by Elfman, who was in a choke hold by Natsu, who was yelling at Gray for being weak and stupid.

Nope; nothing unusual there.

As if sensing her presence, Natsu looked up from his captive, who was going blue from lack of oxygen, to look straight at Lucy. He grinned a fanged, carefree smile at her that made the stellar mage want to cry. Instead she offered her friend a tremulous up turning of the lips that seemed a sad excuse for a smile though the dragon slayer didn't seem to notice any difference and immediately turned back to the fight.

When Lucy and her spirit finally made it to the bar Mira had already set out a strawberry smoothie and a beer for them at Lucy's usual spot.

The take-over mage herself stood behind the bar in front of the pair's drinks, polishing a glass and smiling as the two sat down. "Well if this isn't a surprise. What are you two doing here, together?" There was a subtle, teasing twinkle in her eyes as she spoke.

"Come on Mirajane," Lucy argued, "you know it's not like that. Me sleeping with Loke would be like sleeping with a brother; it would be like you sleeping with Elfman!"

Mira giggled despite the rather disturbing imagery, "A girl can hope, can't she?" She raised a brow at Loke when she turned back to face him, "Actually, what are you doing here, Loke? It's good to see you as always, but you haven't been out of the spirit world in a while. Any particular reason for visiting?"

He replied swiftly and seamlessly, "No real reason, just thought it'd be nice to see everyone again, and I haven't just hung out with Princess in a while. You know how torturous it is for me to be away from such a lovely master as Lucy."

"Loke!" Lucy cried.

Mira laughed, "Of course. I can only imagine how terrible it must be for you. Anything else I can get you two?"

"A plate of lox for the lion, a ham omelet and cheese Danish for me, all on Loke's bill." Lucy replied.

"Hey, what do you mean on my bill?" Loke protested.

"Well you're the one who wanted to go out for breakfast; therefore you get the honor of paying. Anything for your lovely princess, right? And you already said you'd buy me breakfast."

"I suppose so," Loke sighed, "On my bill then, Mirajane."

The silver haired woman turned her back on the pair as she left to prepare their breakfasts. Lucy took a long, smooth sip of her drink while Loke chugged his beer down with a fair bit of elegance for the rate at which he was drinking.

"Anything yet?" He asked once the bottle was empty. He was glancing over his shoulder curiously at the others in the guild as if waiting for someone to approach them. His eyes wandered. Those who weren't unconscious were for the most part trying to knock each other out, save a few of them.

Gajeel, Pantherlily, and Levy were all sitting in 'Gajeel's corner' of the guild, the girl with her nose in a book while the Exceed and dragon slayer discussed weapons and fighting styles. Lily was happily munching on a half eaten kiwi all the while. As if sensing he was being watched, the iron slayer jerked his head up to meet the lion spirit's calculating gaze. He raised a brow, scowled, and turned back to his conversation allowing Loke's gaze to move on.

The Raijinshu were at their customary table near the edge of the hall. Bickslow was laughing at something he had apparently found absolutely hilarious while Evergreen glared hotly at the strange man. Freed was busy speaking to Laxus in hushed tones that even Loke's feline like ears couldn't pick up. Laxus maintained his disinterested expression despite how he occasionally clenched his fist around his beer before taking a large swig. He also knew that Loke was watching them by the way he would glance out of the corner of his eye in their direction.

"No," She answered meekly, "I haven't started looking yet."

"Lucy-"

"I'm scared, alright?!" She whisper-yelled. "I just- I don't know."

Turning to his master, Loke could see the ever-present fatigue in her body. The way her shoulders slumped, the blank expression in her once cheery eyes. This was tearing her up inside, he could see it as surely as he could feel it. He took her hand so as to reassure her.

"I'm right here Lucy, and I won't leave your side." He took a deep breath, and answered in a hushed tone, hoping it was enough to keep the curious ears of the dragon slayers at bay. "You want the nightmares to end, right? You want what the visions you've had not to be true, right?" Lucy nodded reluctantly, "Then look."

Lucy conceded and taking a moment to even her breathing, she closed her eyes and expanded her senses, observing and feeling the magic powers of all those in the guild. The magic signatures all varied from weak or immature, to huge and swelling, all varying in texture, and feel as Lucy touched each one gently. The intimacy of touching another's powers was a gift reserved strictly for stellar mages. Normally, touching another's power would cause sickness or disorientation, like how Natsu became sick after eating an element other than fire. However celestial spirit mages could touch nearly any element without such consequences since their skills were based primarily in their ability to bond with the varying magics of their spirits. Lucy had become adept in the skill of identifying magic sources through her hours of relentless meditating.

While there were many powerful energies in the guild hall, there were none anywhere near as powerful as the one she had felt in her dream. She shifted her senses to the second floor, but it appeared as though it was still yet to be occupied for the day. Hesitantly, she shifted her senses again, to the basement this time, and then lower. And there it was, she felt it. It was clouded, and weaker than before, but it was there. She felt it!

Lucy gasped lightly, coming out of her trance suddenly as Loke took a hold of her shoulders to steady her. "Well?" He asked.

She gave a wordless nod, "The basement," She whispered, "I'm gonna need a distraction."

Loke grinned, "Oh, I can make a distraction! But you'll owe me for this one." He reached over the counter, grabbing another beer and quickly chugged it down. "I'll meet you down there, as soon as I can get away."

More time than Lucy thought had passed since she began her investigation. More people were muddling about in the main hall, and the second floor was now occupied by those wanting more privacy. The early morning brawl had ended and the room was miraculously back to its original orderly state, but Lucy had a feeling that whatever 'distraction' Loke planned to stage would leave it worse than it had been earlier; such was the way of the mischievous lion.

"You better eat fast, I doubt your food'll be here when you get back, or the bar for that matter." Loke suggested with a grin.

Glancing down at the counter, Lucy saw that her food had arrived and though not steaming hot, was still slightly warm. She ate quickly, and nodded to Loke when she was finished, signaling him that she was ready for whatever he had planned. There were now two more empty beer bottles on the counter, with a half full one tilted against his lips; he must have finished his breakfast while she was busy.

"Alrighty then," He finished his fifth drink, and pulled Lucy close by the arm, "Ready?" He whispered, and she nodded in return. "Good." Loke grinned. Then he gasped suddenly, stood up abruptly, and yelled in clear outrage as loud as he was able, "What do you mean Laxus tried to sleep with you against your will, Lucy?!"

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**And We're gonna leave it at that for now! I'm so cruel aren't I, having a little cliff hanger in the very first chapter! I promise there's more where that came from! I already have the first five chapters written, but won't be posting them for a little while. Although some reviews of encouragement might persuade me to post and write faster... just a thought! **

**I love you guys! And hope you enjoyed the first chapter!**


	2. Truths and Tails

**Hello dear friends and here, back by popular demand! I have for you chapter 2 of A Fairy's Tail, and just as a warning to you all, the title of this story will be changing, I don't know what I'll change it to yet, but I'll be sure to put "New Title (previously A Fairy's Tail)" and leave it like that for a little while before dropping the "previously…" part off. It's funny, when I started writing this a few months back I was like "A Fairy's Tail? Oh my gosh best name ever!" and now I'm just like, "Why the hell did I think that was even remotely fitting?" Same with the summary which I also already changed. **

**I'd like to give a big shout out to all of you who reviewed my story, they were all very heartwarming! And I'm glad you liked the first chapter's ending! I had a lot of fun writing that part as well as all the following scenes which include Lucy and Laxus. You'll notice my stories tends to be a little bipolar with the mood changing suddenly and often, but I guess you are what you write! **

**Anyways, another big thank you to my beta reader Kiteria Faye, and yes you will be thanked with every chapter update, just so you know!**

**Disclaimer: All rights reserved for Fairy Tail creator Hiro Mashima **

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**A Fairy's Tail: Chapter 2**

**Truth and Tails**

By: Thorn

The idle chatter in the room died down instantly as everyone heard the spirit. Lucy was left mouth agape in shock, her mouth gasping like a fish out of water. 'That sneaky, twisted, perverted little sh-' Then just as suddenly as the silence began, it ended.

A collective and outraged "WHAT?!" echoed throughout the guild, but none were louder than the accused dragon slayer himself.

The atmosphere of the guild turned suddenly dark, and glancing above Lucy saw a more than furious Erza balanced on the banister to the second floor in her purgatory armor. "You dare try to defile our Lucy?! Unforgivable!"

Similar shouts rang out from equally furious people as everyone glared at Laxus aside from the Raijinshu who looked just as shocked as their leader.

"You pervert," Mirajane growled, now in Satan Soul.

Gray was readying for attack, his hands in position, "Bastard, I'll kill you for trying to hurt Lucy!

"What kind of man are you!?" Elfman. Obviously.

"No one messes with my Luce!" Natsu looked just as eager to tear into Laxus as everyone else.

"Poor Lu-chan! Gajeel, beat him up!" Levy said, her attention having been fully pulled away from her book.

"Yeah, Lucy! Get some!" Slurred/shouted an entirely inebriated Cana, though she was ignored.

"Laxus," Erza shouted, "you're dead." And all hell broke loose with almost every mage in the guild trying to kill, or at least maim, their strongest member.

"And there's our distraction," Loke whispered while grinning widely, clearly pleased with himself. He nudged his master with an elbow, "Go on, I'll catch up, just don't do anything dangerous." He threw himself into the fray, shouting in his best angry voice, "I will protect Princess' honor!"

It took a moment for Lucy to realize she was now alone, having been too surprised at the guild's sudden chaos. The blonde shook her head, out of her stupefied state, and nodded to herself before shuffling sideways. One step. Two steps; then she bolted for the back hallway. It was dark and abandoned. Lightly expanding her senses again, Lucy picked a door blindly towards the back of the hallway. There was a giant lock on the door, but Lucy could tell it was where the power was coming from and prayed it'd be unlocked. Luckily, it was. On the other side of the door was a simple stone room. The only thing in it was a single stone pedestal at the circular room's center. She approached it steadily, eyes locked solely on the stone table. Just as she reached a hand out to touch it, the room shook. Knocked off kilter, Lucy found purchase on the room's center piece and stayed upright. The floor spiraled down and away from her as one by one, blue-gray stone stairs formed and descended into the darkness.

Lucy gasped, the power felt closer than before, and she knew if she wanted to find the woman from her dreams she would have to venture below. Grasping Loke's key and holding it up, it glowed with a bright golden light much like the lion's fists in battle. It was enough to illuminate the narrow corridor as she hurried down the stairs, eager to find the source of her terrors. The descent took a good five minute even at Lucy's swift pace.

'Just how deep does this go?' Lucy wondered to herself as she kept going.

Towards the bottom, the stairs evened out to form a long, shallow ramp and the staircase opened to a stone room even larger than the antechamber above. The structure seemed as though it had once been a cave that was modified to connect with the guild. Corinthian columns rose out of the stone to surround the cavern from which banners of Fairy Tail were hung. On the opposite side of the stairs two magnificent doors were carved into the rock both with the mark of Fairy Tail etched into their surface. It was a magnificent place, so pristine; untouched by time.

Lucy approached the doors hesitantly, miniscule beads of sweat dripping from her brow in her nervousness. As she neared, she could finally see something scribed into the stone. "Lumen… Histoire?"

The instant the words were muttered, the doors creaked and swung open slowly, as if they weren't truly meant to be opened at all. Lucy lowered Loke's key as an even brighter light poured out of the room. And then it hit her; the power, the sheer unadulterated force of magic shot through her like a bullet. She gasped, and fell to her knees unable to stand against the torrent. When she looked up she saw it; the orb from her dreams, pure white and stamped with the Fairy Tail mark. Only now, up close and in the real world, she could tell it was more than a simple orb; it was a lacrima. Just as in her dream, she struggled to stand. Only this time she was able to stand after a minute or so of deep breathing. She walked slowly, unsteady, as if she were pushing through currents in a river, towards the shining sphere. Once she finally crossed the threshold to the chamber the door swung shut at just as leisurely of a pace as they had opened.

Lucy fell to her knees again, though, when the magical pressure suddenly dissipated. The air was thinner, and the atmosphere less oppressive.

_"Welcome, child. You know, you've kept me waiting a good long while with your indecision and hesitance. Do you not trust me?"_

Lucy froze. She called hesitantly, "Who's there? Where are you?!"

A laugh, then the voice spoke once more, _"What do you mean 'who' and 'where?' I'm right in front of you, dear."_

Stiffly, Lucy turned towards the only thing in the room besides herself; the lacrima. She stood just as rigid, and walked around the side of the lacrima, being close enough to touch it. The orb itself appeared as though it were fogged glass. Misty wisps of light swirled within the luminescence of it. Lucy had to squint, but she could see it. There was someone within the lacrima, a woman. Her arms were crossed over her breasts, with feet outstretched much in the shape of the Fairy Tail emblem. Upon closer inspection Lucy realized she was naked within the sphere, while her hair waded around in the contained wind of the thing. Her hair was ebony with drops of starlight in all colors glittering throughout it as though the strands were strung with tiny jewels. The woman's skin was pale- no, more than pale, it was stark white as a dove's feathers- and flawless. What struck the stellar mage the hardest though, were the paper-thin wings and arrow-like tail which sprouted from her shoulders and base of her spine. The tail was the same shade of black as her hair, sleek and deadly sharp while her wings appeared a dark cobalt blue, despite them being nearly transparent. They seemed so fragile and delicate almost as if the lightest whisper of wind would shatter them.

"Wh-what are you?" Lucy asked.

There was more laughter, though the figure within the orb didn't seem to move, till she lifted her head and looked straight at Lucy. The stellar mage sucked in a breath as eyes of the purest and shiniest silver locked with hers. Words echoed in her head despite that the woman's lips never moved, _"What do I look like?"_

"I-" Lucy hesitated, "I don't know. I've never seen anyone like you before," She whispered.

_"I can't say I'm surprised. I am a one of a kind nowadays after all. Tell me, what is the symbol on your hand?"_

The blonde's brow furrowed in confusion as she looked at her hand, replying, "It's the mark of Fairy Ta-" Lucy froze as she looked back into the lacrima; the woman's tail was flicking around lazily in front of her face. "Tail," She finished, her voice trembling, "No way. You mean you're- You're a fairy?!" Laughter was her only answer.

So much was her shock that she stumbled away from the huge orb, "How can that be? Fairies, they all died out hundreds of years ago, during the time of the dragon wars and Zeref. You can't- Can't be here! And even if you were, then why? Why have you been showing me all these things? What does this have to do with me?!" Lucy's voice escalated into hysterics, nervous and confused tears streaming from her eyes.

Just as she was about to begin her screaming anew there was a bright flash of light and a telltale shower of golden sparks. "Forgive the wait, Princess. I didn't think my distraction would have been so… distracting." The spirit emerged from the display back in his normal suit and tie, grinning happily and making his way closer to his master.

"Loke!"

_"I see the lion has decided to join us then?"_ Loke swung around instantly only to come face to face with the fairy within the lacrima who was now only inches away from the edge of the glass, carefully inspecting the spirit before her with a neutral expression. Loke stood ramrod straight and trembling; he couldn't help it, the power the woman had been exuding before was back and focused entirely on him. So many emotions passed through him while entrapped in the fairy's eyes; respect, awe, and likely more fear than he had ever felt in his infinite life. _"Are you afraid of me, King of Beasts? Does my power frighten you? I'm glad, since that was my angle."_

"Who? Who are you?! What do you want with my master?!" Though his voice was far from quiet Loke couldn't stop the trembling infliction of his voice.

_"What I want?"_ She asked _"It's hardly about what I want, but what your master wants; and in many ways what you want, little lion. You wish to protect the guild don't you; the guild and your master's happiness?"_

"That-" Loke hesitated, "That's all I want. Her happiness is the reason for my being. But you know that, don't you? I'm old enough to remember you; your kind. You all never cared before for the affairs of mortals, why do you care now about Fairy Tail?!"

The fairy in the lacrima smirked viciously, long canines pressing sharply against her alabaster lip, _"Old enough to remember, are you? Then you in all your infinite wisdom must know how Fairy Tail came to be, must you not?"_

"What does that have to do with anything?" Lucy reentered the conversation quietly.

_"Oh, my dear,"_ The fairy laughed, her shoulders trembling minimally with mirth _"it has everything to do with this. True, fairies saw humans as being no more than toys for their occasional amusement, but not all of us were as playful. I for instance, am far from being so degrading."_ She paused. _"What do you know of the first master, young one?"_

Lucy answered with little pause, "Mavis Vermillion was the first master and establisher of Fairy Tail over 100 years ago and to this day is the youngest person to ever establish a guild as well as being the youngest mage to ever gain the title of one of the Ten Wizard Saints. However she died only ten years after the construction of Fairy Tail under mysterious circumstances and for unknown reasons."

The fairy chuckled, _"Yes my dear, and while that is all true, that is not all she was. Mavis Vermillion, was then, and still is, my sister."_

Spirit and master replied with identical shocked shouts, "What?! What do you mean sister?!"

_"Fairies were originally the children of demons and angels, and while breeding amongst us was far more common after the first generation, I was born directly of a demon mother and angelic father. Some 700 years after my birth, my Father gave seed for another child, this one to a human mother, a woman by the name of Analise Vermillion. The daughter born of their union, as you have no doubt deduced, was one Mavis Vermillion."_ The two couldn't find the strength to speak above their own shock as the gravity of her words weighed on them. _"Had you never wondered how Mavis still exists on this plane despite being dead for nearly 100 years, herself? Angel blood is quite a miraculous substance; such beautiful creatures, they are. It is their blood which makes us all so stunning, and it tampers down our nasty tendencies. Without it we would be just as cruel as the demons who bore us."_

"But- but I fought a woman who could summon angels to her aid! Those things were hideous, and cruel." Lucy argued.

_"Ah, yes. Oh the irony of that mage, a woman named Angel who summoned angels."_ She chuckled._ "However, those beings weren't the angels of heaven. They were fallen beings and much weaker than those who live in the heavens. It would be impossible for any mere mortal to call forth and command a true angel. And even if one somehow managed, they would be killed near instantly simply from the immense pressure which comes with their presence."_

"Then how is it that the First Master could be born if her mother should have died the moment she came in contact with your father?" Loke asked skeptically.

_"I said, 'impossible for any mere mortal' As it were,__Analise__ was no mere mortal. She was in fact a celestial wizard. But not just any stellar mage; she was a child of heaven, herself, just like you, my dear Lucy."_

Loke stiffened, a new kind of fear shooting through him which clearly confused his blonde master. Loke wasn't one to show so much open fear, but the fact that that name came up again… "What do you mean like me? You said that before, what's a child of Heaven?"

The fairy gave a hearty laugh in their minds, _"You mean to tell me you haven't told her?!"_ She turned towards Loke, laughing, _"Eight years in her service and you never told her? Oh, that is rich, lion! Did you ever plan on telling her?"_

The spirit growled lowly, and yelled, "I didn't want to trouble her! She had more important things to worry about!"

"Loke," Lucy whispered, drawing his attention. The thought that her loyal spirit, one of her closest friends had lied to her, kept something from her, devastated her, even if it was supposedly for her own protection or convenience. "What is she talking about?"

"Our bond," Loke breathed just as broken, if not more so.

"Our bond?" she echoed.

_"Yes,"_ The woman interjected, _"The bond that was made between the two of you when you saved him from his untimely assimilation into the spirit world. When the spirit king said it was the lion's job to serve you for the rest of his life, he meant it quite literally. When you were trying to hold him within the realm of Earth, you entwined your powers with his quite intimately in order to hold him on our plane. So when he was allowed back to the Spirit Realm he did so with your magic still coursing through him. However, the exchange wasn't just one sided; as you fed him your power, what scant energy he had left was unconsciously flowed into you as it was, in a sense, flooded out. That exchange is constantly occurring between the two of you in a cycle, now. Though you are unaware of it, the lion feels it quite deeply; his loyalty to you and the magic that restored his life is unwavering because of it even if it is subconscious. Spirits are immortal beings, if they are hurt here then they simply return to the Spirit Realm where healing is instant. Should you ever be hurt so irrevocably on this plain, excess energy would flow from the Spirit Realm through Leo and into you. So long as that power continues to flow through you two your bond will not be broken and thus you, my dear, will never die. Even if you were to be ripped apart, limb from limb, you would regenerate. You and Leo are permanently bound, until death do you part."_

'Why does it sound like she's telling us we're married?' Lucy thought with dismal sarcasm. "That doesn't seem possible," She replied after a time, "Loke, why didn't you tell me?"

He didn't respond immediately. His head was down with his hair covering his eyes. His fists were clenched at his sides. His reply was mumbled, and quiet.

"What, Loke?"

"Because you'd hate me!" He snapped, spinning around to face her. Angry and sorrowful tears were streaming down his face, and Lucy didn't think she had ever seen him quite so broken even when he told her about his relationship with Karen. His shoulders were shaking as he collapsed to the cold, stone floor. "She's right, you know?! I feel it, the bond we have! I feel like I know more about you than I do about myself because of it! So I know; I know you don't want this! To selfishly live while everyone around you, everyone you love, dies and you stay untouched by time; I know that's not something you want! But there's nothing I can do, and even if there was, I don't think I would do anything about it! Because, to be with you, for the rest of eternity, I'd give anything for that, even if you would hate me for it. But I don't want you to hate me. I love you more than anything Lucy! You're the only Master I ever want to have."

While the fairy's face had changed again, somewhere between a smirk and sympathy, Lucy was crying just as much if not more than Loke.

"Loke," Lucy whispered, dropping down on one knee in front of him. Her hands cupped the lion spirit's tear-stained cheeks as she placed her forehead against his, "You think I'd hate you?" Loke couldn't bare to look her in the eyes but it was difficult to find anywhere else to look when she was so close. "I could never hate you Loke!" She whispered fiercely, "You are my brother, if not by blood then by soul and magic. You're right, though. Look at me Loke," He hesitantly raised his gaze to meet hers, "immortality isn't something I would have asked for, but we play the hands we're dealt. If I had known back then, eight years ago on that cliff, that saving you would mean I never got to see my mom and dad again wherever they are after death, that wouldn't have mattered; I would have saved you anyway!" She paused and her serious expression melted into an encouraging smile." Just think! Not only will I always be by your side, but I'll always be a member of Fairy Tail. I can watch over the future generations, protect them, and ensure that Fairy Tail will forever be the strongest guild in Fiore; hell, the whole world! Oh! Not to mention I'll have plenty of time to finish my novel! So no rush," She smiled warmly. Loke couldn't help but give a light chuckle at that one.

"You're too perfect, Master."

Lucy giggled, "Oh, come on now! You know how I feel about being called 'Master,' I've only told you, like what? Twenty thousand times?"

_"As touching as this is, dear,"_ The fairy interrupted, _"I do believe we have other things to discuss?"_

Lucy nodded, whispering to Loke, "We'll talk more about this later."

Nodding in return, Loke stood, pulling Lucy up with him, "So," He said, after finally composing himself again, "to recap, you're a fairy, First Master's half angel, and Lucy's immortal. How exactly does this tie into, well, anything?"

"It ties into the end of the world-" Lucy drew a sharp breath. "-and our efforts to avoid it."

"Well, as I'm now aware, even though I'm immortal, I'm hardly strong enough to prevent the death of billions around the world," Lucy relented.

_"True enough,"_ The woman conceded, _"however you are the only person sturdy enough to gain the power required to do just that."_

"What's that supposed to mean?" Loke asked.

_"It means that the Spirit world energy flowing through her makes her not entirely human, making her the ideal choice."_

"What about the dragon slayers? They aren't entirely human either, and are in a way 'sturdier' than even Lucy is. She can still be hurt, she just can't die."

The fairy made a soft scowling face, _"True, but if you haven't exactly noticed, all the dragon slayers are, in fact, male."_

"Wendy's a girl," Lucy offered.

_"-and far too young. You are mature, and have both a large first origin and an even larger second origin. Not only that, but your capacity for compassion and your lacking desire for power will ensure that once you have this power and the smoke has cleared that you won't abuse any of it."_

Loke's still red eyes narrowed, "And what exactly is this 'power?'"

The Fairy grinned smugly, _"I will gift her with my own vast stores of power. With it she will be more than capable of safe guarding the future."_ Her eyes lowered in thought, and almost remorse, as she turned to face Lucy. _"There would be no need to even use you as a vessel if I was capable of leaving this shell, but after so many years within it my body would fail the instant I left. I would not push this burden on you if there was any other way, but alas, we are not so lucky."_

She paused to look around the chamber as a whole before her body physically sighed and her mouth finally moved with her words_,__ "There is not much I can promise you, Lucy, and the little that I can is not pleasant. I can promise that it won't be easy and despite all the efforts you may make, there is a reasonable chance that we will still loose; not all fates are avoidable. I promise that there will be pain, and suffering for both you and your- our family. In spite of this, however, should you succeed, if you are able to stop the darkness which looms over this world and threatens to consume it, I promise you happiness. And love. And a life truly worth living. All I need you to do is act on what you know is right, and for you to take my hand and trust me."_ Slowly, her elegantly pale and clawed hand glided to press against the glass like surface of the lacrima, before it breached the surface and gestured to Lucy. As it did so, the hand withered; the smooth skin began to shrivel and crinkle as bones became more and more pronounced.

Lucy spared a concerned glance to Loke who looked at the hand quizzically. His nervousness and unease came off in waves, but despite that he nodded, without looking at her as if understanding her silent question. His jade colored gaze peaked out the corner of his eyes and he smiled in reassurance. Though it was off kilter, lopsided and forced at best, it told Lucy exactly what she needed to know, 'I'm here, you know I won't go anywhere.'

The stellar mage's hand lifted shakily towards the fairy's hand, but it flinched back minutely when she felt the cold wave of air the appendage seemed to exude. She audibly gulped, "The darkness. What is it exactly, and how do you know so much about it? There's something you're not telling us."

The elder female tilted her head and smiled a surprisingly tender smile, _"There has been a blemish on my bloodline for more than 400 years, one that I should have removed from this earth while it was still in infancy. I admit my father wasn't my only parent to have tryst with a human. My mother had a lover once, a mage of insignificant ability, but my mother was plenty strong to make up for that. The child she bore to him- It should have never survived, I shouldn't have let it survive. Angel blood is a powerful thing; I felt mercy and pity for the thing. I let it live. And for the mercy I showed to that one child, thousands upon thousands of innocent lives were lost.__"_ She paused in the thought, _"__The reason I know that this darkness is coming is because its orchestrator is of my blood, if only half. My brother, half-brother, is everything I feared he would be. Cruel, unrelenting, and deranged past all recognition of humanity; he believes life itself is a sin. For this he cannot be allowed to succeed, Zeref must be stopped."_

Lucy's eyes widened in both shock and fear, "Z-Zeref?" She whimpered.

_"Yes, Zeref, my younger brother. Now please, allow me to lend you my strength."_

"But-" She paused, "What will happen to you?"

_"That is of little consequence and not for you to concern yourself with."_ She gestured her hand in emphasis. Lucy looked at the hand.

Finding resolve, the mage reached her hand the final distance, but it froze a mere hairsbreadth away, her head rising slowly to meet the Fairy's gaze one more time, "What's your name?"

She never received an answer for the proffered hand darted forward and grasped the stellar mage's. There was a bright flash of light, and Lucy's eyes dilated, the black pupils swallowing the earthen brown of her eyes before even the whites of her eyes bled to black. Then there was pain, and she screamed. It was ear-piercing and sounded strangled even to herself. The hand had seemed so cold before, but now it was scorching, hotter than even Natsu's flames could burn. Her skin burned away- her bones, too- and reformed instantly only to be burned away again and repeat. The bright light did not let up, and Lucy could faintly hear Loke's desperate cries above her own. And amidst the light, the mage's once brown eyes flashed, golden and shining.

The color began to leak, spreading from her once chocolate orbs to her skin as a wave of golden florescence stretched and bounded across her flesh. The light had covered her from head to toe, shimmering in a yellow haze. The light encompassing her form flashed three times before a new color dripped from her eyes. Black, like the fairy's hair, shot from the corners and raced across her form leaving winding trails of ink colored light that glowed low in contrast to the rest of her luminescent skin.

Minutes, which felt like hours to all those involved, passed before the blinding light began to ebb away and as it did, a soft voice echoed throughout the room, _"I, Luminara, last of the fey folk, Daughter of Gabriel, Progeny of Lilith, do leave to you, Lucy Heartfilia, Child of Heaven, my legacy. Be strong. Make me proud."_

The pain was finally gone, but it left her with the feeling of welling pressure deep within her, as if her skin had become far too tight. Lucy gasped, falling to the floor, she became all to aware of the cold marble slabs that pressed against her naked form. Loke rushed forward immediately dropping to his knees beside her and wrapped her in his suit jacket. The difference between the fire she had been in before and the only slightly chilled air left her shivering. Neither spoke. With her spirit's help she tried to stand, but it didn't feel right; it was awkward, but they managed.

"Luminara," She whispered, her head shooting up to look at the now empty lacrima. The fog still misted under its glassy surface but the woman, Luminara, was gone. The only evidence remaining of her existence within it was the drifting drops of colored starlight that fluttered alongside the fog. "She's gone."

"I guess," Loke voiced, looking off to the side and away from his indecent master, "it's up to us now. Virgo!"

A light puff of shimmering dust and the virgin spirit bowed before them, "Hai nii-sama, Hime-sama."

"Get Lucy some clothes, nothing too extravagant or flashy; as low key as possible," He responded.

With a nod the maid dispersed to return immediately after, a small pile of clothes folded neatly in her hands. "Please turn around nii-sama." He did so, and in a flash Lucy stood dressed in a simple tunic shirt of blue and yellow silk and tight black denim jeans. A new leather belt was also provided. Somehow her keys and whip had survived the massive inferno and were now clipped to said belt. The sleeves of the shirt flowed past her fingertips which Lucy took notice were now tipped with lethally sharp claws. She nearly panicked at the sight of them. "Virgo! A mirror please?!"

Loke looked more than worried, and quickly interjected, "That won't be necessary, Virgo. It can wait till she gets home." He saw how she looked, and most of it could all be easily covered but that didn't mean any of it was subtle. She seemed distressed enough as it was with so many things that would be changing. To have something so familiar as one's own face change…

"No, Loke," She ground out, "It can't!" The poor female spirit was left looking between her two superiors though her face never expressed her confusion. "Virgo? Please?" She insisted.

"Hai, Hime-sama," She finally replied. In a shimmer of light a full length mirror appeared beside the spirit.

Lucy met her reflection's gaze hesitantly and was shocked at the results. She looked so different; alien to herself as if the face she saw belonged to someone else. Her eyes had an unnaturally thick shadow coating her lids which swept seamlessly into the black markings that danced across her cheeks and down the rest of her body, mirroring the patterns of the black light that had been present earlier. They were everywhere; her nose, forehead, cheeks, ears, her arms as she lifted her tunic sleeves- no large expanse of skin was spared from the ink-like markings. What skin wasn't coated in the marks was now lightly tanned, like she had spent a week at the beach.

Her hair hadn't changed in style or length aside from the fact that it now hung in a curtain around her, having been released from the confines of her ponytail, but it seemed more shadowed with strands of new midnight hair running sparsely throughout it. And starlight- the same tiny tear drops of ruby red, emerald green, amethyst, caribbean blue, and others that hung in Luminara's hair now hung in hers. She lifted a hand to touch them, but found she couldn't. Instead her hand ghosted a path through them, wading out of the way before settling back closely together in a different array than before.

Even after taking this all in, her vision settled again on her eyes. Her once chocolate eyes were replaced with honey colored ones- not quite yellow, not quite brown. They resembled the color of golden wheat. That could go unnoticed, or easily brushed off as a trick of the light, but the gold wasn't the only color addition to her gaze. Black encompassed the outer rim of each iris thickly and spider webbed into both the gold and the white of her sclera. Her pupils too held an unnatural dark to them and refused to reflect any of the scant light in the room.

It was new, it was strange, and it was gorgeous. While she had never seen anyone the likes of Luminara, Lucy had also never seen anyone who held a candle to her now abnormal beauty.

"Lucy?"

She turned slowly, as if she were afraid to look away from the mirror, and that doing so would alter her even further, to meet Loke's worried gaze.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

The dark blonde didn't answer immediately, "I-," She hesitated, "I don't know Loke." She turned back to her reflection, looking it up and down. "I just don't know."

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**Thanks for Reading! And be sure to leave a review for me! Constructive criticism is always welcome and much appreciated! Until next time! **


	3. Storms and Suspicions

**What's this?! A third chapter?! I know, I shouldn't have! But I did, because you all are worth it! I don't really feel like boring you all out of your minds right now with a gigantic beginning AN since most of you want to get right on with the story after such a long wait, so I won't keep you too long. **

**I'd just like to say thank you for all the support, and that I am looking for a secondary Beta reader, if anyone's interested! Just PM me about it!**

**Please enjoy chapter 3!**

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**What I Would Give: Chapter 3**

**Storms and Suspicions**

By: Thorn

The silence was unbearable and it allowed Lucy to fall into her own thoughts. There was a time when that would have been good, constructive, helpful even, but her thoughts nowadays were dismal at best. They consumed her as they often did. This person in the mirror wasn't her, it just wasn't. And if she could see that, then surely others would as well, what would her guild think? She was doing this for them, it was all for them! She didn't want power; she didn't need it so long as her family stood beside her. But would they recognize her?

"Hime-sama?" Virgo called after a moment, breaking Lucy from the thoughts that encompassed her. When her master looked at her she held her gaze firmly and spoke again without emotion, "This changes nothing. You are our princess, our master. We will stand by you Hime-sama; till the end." Her stony words rang through Lucy with a comforting hum. She looked different, felt different, but what made her Lucy, what made her human hadn't changed at all. Her spirits were with her, through thick and thin they would be family. But the doubt lingered despite the soothing words.

'No!' She thought, 'I can't afford to doubt myself. This was the right choice to make, and I'm the only one who could. But still…'

"Hime," She looked back to Loke, "she's right. We can do this; Virgo, me, the entire spirit realm—we're all behind you. But more importantly, Fairy Tail is behind you." He flashed her a playful grin, "It's only saving the world, after all. Nothing we haven't done before. And I like the new look, it suits your ethereal nature. If you were beautiful before then you are positively stunning now."

Lucy couldn't help but laugh, "Is now really the time for flirting, Loke?" Her voice wobbled as she tried to withhold her relieved tears.

Loke took measured steps towards her and wrapped his arms around her, laughing in return, "There's always time for flirting," He proclaimed, "and if it makes you smile like I know it does, then all the better."

"Smile?" She giggled, "it's completely and utterly irritating! I really just want to slap you sometimes!"

"You wound me, Princess," He whispered. They stayed like that for a long while, Lucy clutching desperately to the anchor Loke was more than happy to provide. Minutes later he drew back, looking down at her timidly, "I think we could use some makeup to cover all that," He gestured wildly to the marks on her face and hands, "up. A hat too, would probably be good. Virgo?"

"Right away, nii-sama," She replied from behind him. She was gone for only a moment, returning with a wide-brimmed hat and a canvas bag that likely held the requested make up.

"And my eyes?" The mage asked offhandedly as she allowed Virgo to work her cosmetic magic.

"I doubt anyone will be conscious enough upstairs to notice the difference!" The lion grinned, "It is waterproof, right? There was rain in the forecast last I checked."

"Of course, nii-sama, only the best for Hime-sama." The maid replied dolefully. She gripped Lucy's hair and tucked it safely beneath the hat. "Will there be anything else, Hime-sama?"

"No," Loke spoke for her, "that will be all for now Virgo. Go back and inform the others of everything. Leave the Spirit King to me, though, he'll likely want more detail than the others."

In the usual shower of dust and puff of yellow smoke, the spirit and her mirror were both gone.

"You really think she's gone?" Lucy asked, gesturing to the empty lacrima, "just like that?"

"I think," He started slowly, "we should go home now, before any other rare mythical beings decide they want you as their 'Crusader for good.'"

She laughed at that, "Crusader huh?"

"We're saving the world." Was his only reply.

"You already said that." Lucy said as they were making their way out of the chamber. Just as before, the massive doors swung open slowly as they approached, only wide enough for the two pass through. Once on the other side, the doors shut swiftly behind them.

"Only because the saving of worlds, whether it's ours or someone else's, seems to be our true specialty as mages. Maybe we should start our own little business, just the two of us, 'Loke and Lucy's; Apocalypse Aversion Co.' or 'Lucy and Loke's' if you're feeling especially conceited. We could be both rich and famous!" He joked. His grin was wide and shining, but Lucy knew it wasn't how he was really feeling. He was distracting her from the matter of immortality and unlimited power. And damn him, it was working.

"If I wanted fame and fortune I would have stayed with my father, and where would you be then?" They ascended the winding stairs in silence after that. They came out back in the stone room on the Guild's main level. The stair case hid itself again, becoming level with the floor as the pedestal resumed its previous position at the center of the room. By the time they made it back to the Guild's main room the path behind them returned to its previous state; as if they had never been there.

Back in the main hall, Lucy balked at the mass amount of destruction which had swept through the guild; columns were singed or burned, pillars reduced to dust. There were even some scorch marks that had the outline of human bodies plastered to the wall in places. The room's furniture was strewn in splintered piles of wood and cloth and half-frozen puddles of water were everywhere. When they entered, not a single person noticed them because not a single person was left standing. The muscles of a few members twitched every now and then, but other than that the guild was silent. Lucy was left gaping at the aftermath of Loke's "distraction."

"Well," Loke grinned, "that worked even better than I thought it would! Now, I smell rain, so we gotta go before the storm hits."

The dark blonde suddenly remembered her anger. She grabbed a book, likely Levy's- speaking of which, where was she in this mess? - from the floor and slammed the spine of it down hard on top of the playboy's head. "We can't just leave them here, you stupid lion! This is all your fault anyways!" She yelled, exasperated as Loke nursed his new head wound, but continued grinning despite it, "'Laxus tried to sleep with you against your will?!'" She lowered her voice, mimicking his earlier proclamation, "What the hell, Loke?! Who would ever say it like that in the first place?! That never happened and you know it!"

"Damn straight it never happened." A low voice grumbled beside them; raging anger hummed beneath the surface. While she rarely spoke to him, Lucy would recognize that voice anywhere;

Laxus.

The pair swung around to face the broad set man, but before Lucy got a good look at him Loke had placed himself in front of her, blocking two blondes' view of each other. Lucy, though, was still able to glance over her spirit's shoulder and see him under the shadow of her overly large hat.

Laxus's normally immaculate self was almost unrecognizable. His customary fur lined jacket had been discarded and the muscle shirt he usually wore beneath it was soaked through and torn in several places across the stomach and chest. His hair was singed at the tips and he was covered in superficial cuts and scrapes. Of course there were some deeper wounds, including a very noticeable one blotched with dark purple-brown bruises on his left upper arm, in places. He was leaning casually against what was perhaps the only support beam left intact in the entire building. But to sum it up- he looked like shit.

"Eh-heh," Loke laughed nervously as he tried to shake off the lightning mage's piercing glare, "Laxus! I thought you would have been-"

"Unconscious after being torn to pieces by a bunch of overprotective psychopaths for the sake of your sick amusement?" He interrupted hotly.

"Yeah, that," He replied, then gulped.

"Che, as if they all could take me down. They gave me a run for my money I'll admit; Mira and Erza were unsurprisingly persistent in their attempt to castrate me." The slayer spoke without raising his voice; he seemed calm enough, but the continuous waves of murderous intent he was not so subtly sending Loke with his narrowed eyes spelled how angry he was. He pushed himself off the pillar before stalking closer to Loke till both he and his master were left sweating buckets in his massive shadow. "So," He said, "I'd like you to tell me WHY THE HELL YOU SAID I RAPED BLONDIE?!"

'Oh,' Lucy suddenly realized, 'he isn't angry at me!' A rare mischievous grin worked its way onto Lucy's lips before she joined Laxus in his angry tirade, doing her best to look utterly infuriated. "Yeah! The hell were you thinking, Loke?! Do you have any idea how much trouble you caused?!" She had stepped away from his back, and was glowering at him as best she could, her fists clenched in false anger.

Lucy took extra care that her closed hands hid her new claws and her hat still shadowed her eyes. Of course, Laxus had always been more perceptive than most. Hopefully he wouldn't notice her strange change in clothing from scant to conservative or her unnaturally stiff posture.

"Do you have any idea how people are going to think of us now?!" She continued.

Loke sputtered indignantly, "What are you doing taking his side on this?!" He gestured wildly, "I'm your spirit! You should be on my side!"

"You are my spirit, which is why I won't hurt you for embarrassing us like that." She crossed her arms across her ample chest and snorted, snapping to face away from the betrayed looking lion. "Laxus, however, can do as he pleases." And with that she stormed away towards the exit, doing her best to withhold her rolling laughter. She hoped her shaking shoulders looked more like fury than mirth. "Try not to damage him too much, Laxus; I don't want him in complete disrepair."

"Ha!" Laxus laughed darkly, cracking his knuckles "You heard her lion!" Loke backed away with quick steps, but Laxus just followed him.

Just as the guild doors closed behind her, Loke's scared cries rung out before being cut off completely by the shut doors. The sky outside was dark, and the few people who were still on the streets were scrambling on their way to find shelter before the rain began. But despite the weather, Lucy couldn't hold her laughter back anymore, doubling over in her giggling fit. However, had she known that in her dramatic display a large piece of jeweled blonde-black hair had fallen from the confines of her hat and down her back for Laxus to plainly see, she wouldn't have been laughing.

Lucy was halfway home walking along the long canal on Strawberry Street when the rain finally began to fall. It was a cold rain. A sad rain, as if the atmosphere was weeping for some loss. Well it was more of a light misting, but it held the promise of a tempest for sure. But despite all the reasons she had to be sad like the weather, Lucy couldn't help but feel content. The bubbling magic that had originally been thick and uneven in her skin was now beginning to flow more evenly, filling the cracks and crevices within her so that every inch of her being felt full and energized. It was still slightly uncomfortable, but was much more bearable and now that the pain of the inferno had become dulled and forgotten she began to understand the feel of the magic itself.

She had been so unbelievably tired, mentally, physically, spiritually and magically, that the sudden spike in energy in her left her at a loss as to how to react. She had so much to worry about. A war was coming, one that Luminara apparently thought only she would be capable of fighting in; the weight of the situation was enormous on Lucy's slim shoulders. And yet, Luminara, sister of Mavis and Zeref, the gray caught between the black and white of ultimate good and complete evil, thought she was capable of stopping it all. She came to a stop on the canal's edge. "Saving the world, huh?" She whispered up to the sullen sky. And suddenly she felt happy though she didn't know why. She smiled to herself as the mist became true rain which then became a downpour. She closed her eyes against the storm and her smiled morphed into a gleeful grin. She could feel it. The world around her seemed so much clearer than it once had been. She opened her eyes and she could see it, the magic that fueled the turning of their earth. Threads of teal and periwinkle blew with the wind, plumes of navy and black billowed through the rolling storm clouds, and layers of tans and browns lay stagnantly in the earth beneath her feet, moving only as fast as the ground itself. When she breathed it was like she could feel the individual etherion particles as they entered and exited her lungs. The peace, the unity she could suddenly feel all around her made her want to laugh; it made her want to cry. But she settled for just laughter.

More so than that, she could see her own magic and it shocked her.

In meditation with Capricorn she had been able to expand her magic to a two, two and a half-foot reach, and that was when she worked herself to utter exhaustion. Now, though, without even thinking about it or putting even a speck of effort into it, her magic expanded around her with at least a 30 foot radius. In her meditation she had become accustomed to her magic being two-toned of baby blue and yellow rod, but it was different now, so much so that she almost didn't realize it was hers. It no longer carried its wispy presence and seemed more solid somehow. The yellow was replaced with shimmering gold and the blue with heavy black which streaked through it; it reminded her of her skin, golden tan with black marks. While the gold was quick and fluttered around her, constantly reflecting more light to her, the black moved sluggishly. Like a snake in the grass it slithered slowly through the gold, but Lucy somehow knew that it would move just as, if not more, swiftly than the gold if a threat presented itself.

The expanse of her power seemed to repel the rest of the magic in the area; only wisps of the wind's magic were able to reach her, making the wind less strong in her presence, but it still was able to whip her hair and clothes about. She wondered if this was what Gildarts' magic did to people when they got too close. As the minutes passed of her observing her magic's natural motions she noticed that as the full feeling of energy in her increased, as the magic settled, so did the size of her magic reach grow.

'I won't be able to go back to the guild until I'm able to hold all of this power in. I doubt anyone would even want to be around me till I get it under control,' She thought blandly.

The blonde was brought from her thoughts by a shout, "Hey, Lucy! What do you think you're doing out in this weather?! You'll fall for sure!" Lucy glanced back at the canal to see the boatmen floating along fast in the river. 'Always so hard working, even in this storm.' She thought with a soft smile, 'I don't even know their names, yet they always look out for me.'

"Whoa!" One of the younger ones called out, a boy in his late teens but still a veteran to the boat. He was grinning widely at her, "Nice tats, Miss Lucy! The contacts and hair are cool too! I like the look; very edgy!"

Lucy froze, eyes wide, as her hands flew to her hair which was now unbound and stuck close to her skin. Her hat had blown clear off and was nowhere to be found. When had she lost it? She shot a quick glance at the boat, but before she could call out an explanation the vessel had already drifted out of shouting distance. She bolted, running home as fast as she could; unsurprisingly faster than normal.

She flew through her door with remarkable speed and shut the door behind, resisting the urge to slam it. Her Landlady wouldn't be happy about that if she did. Her shoes kicked off, and soaked shirt discarded, she ran to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. 'Waterproof my _ass_, Virgo!' She thought venomously. Her "waterproof" makeup had been almost completely washed off, only runny streaks of cover-up were left.

'Contacts,' She thought with relief, 'tattoos and contacts. They were far enough away for that to be all it looked like. Dodged a bullet, there!' Lucy sighed and leaned heavily against the wall, pouting heavily at her reflection. 'Life just can't be normal for me, can it?' She thought dryly, 'But after so long, normal would just seem boring to me now.'

She stayed there staring at her reflection, committing it to memory. She had only a mere moment to look at herself before, now was her chance to familiarize. She experimentally traced a finger over her cheeks' smooth, black marks, but pulled her hand away quickly in shock, gasping sharply. They were cold while the rest of her skin was warm and left her finger tingly. Beyond that, just touching them sent a shiver through her body and magic, both. She tried again, this time expecting the strange feeling. They were unbelievably soft, like silk. Her hand drifted to the marks on her wrist which she stroked absentmindedly. The tingly feeling in her fingers was the same, but the feeling that pulsed from the band was different; strangely satisfying and relaxing. Her gaze fixated again on her eyes and she noticed something else strange. The black wisps in her eyes were shifting as if being blown by some invisible wind. The seemingly unnatural movement was eerie and intriguing.

She thought of the guild again, and what they would think. She would have to tell them, eventually, about all that had happened. Master Makarov would likely figure out something had happened once he returned from the guild master's convention; he would need to be informed immediately. As for the rest of Fairy Tail, she could imagine all that would happen if word got out about her new found powers. Natsu would immediately demand a fight, and he would lose (probably. Natsu was strong, but with the powers of some almighty ancient being on Lucy's side she was feeling pretty confident. Or at least she would be as soon as she figured out exactly what her powers were now). Gray would want to talk technique and would eventually want a fight, though he'd be less eager than Natsu. Erza would be immensely proud, Lucy thought. She would want to talk about strategy and after seeing her blonde friend's new magic to some extent would politely challenge her to a fight. One way or another, there would be several brawls and after that the world would keep spinning. 'At least until the world ends,' She amended to herself. Luminara hadn't said when this war of hers would begin, only that the gears had been set in motion for it to happen. For all Lucy knew it could take days, weeks, or even years before any conflict began. Lucy had no idea how to seek out the enemy by herself, she could only wait, and train with her new abilities in the hopes that when the time came to fight, she would be ready. Until then she would keep as few people as possible involved; it wouldn't do to panic everyone. The fewer people who knew, the better. Maybe she could just pass the whole change off as tattoos, color contacts, and hair dye? That is, unless someone touched her hair. Or her skin. Or looked her directly in the eye. Or-

'You know what, screw that! I'm sure I could find some spell to make me look like how I used to! Magic shops love that kind of stuff! I'll have Virgo go out later and see what she can find. Until then, I think a hot bath is in order!'

She peeled the rest of her damp clothes away from her body and tossed them into the hamper just outside the door before turning on the hot water valve. As the tub filled she was left to stare at herself once again. Now naked in front of her mirror Lucy realized that she would need a completely new wardrobe if she hoped to keep her secret. As she expected, the black marks swooped and swirled across her skin. She turned to look at her back and was surprised at three places where the marks seemed to cluster. Over her shoulder blades and at the base of her spine the mark conjoined and spiraled. She groaned as she realized what they most likely meant. 'While flight is nice, if I randomly sprout wings and a tail then by Mavis someone is gonna pay!'

Grumbling to herself, she seated into the steaming water of her bath. The water relaxed her enough to slip into her meditative state. She focused on pulling her magic into herself, a more difficult feat than it had once been. The strange pressurized feeling she had felt just after the transfer returned but ebbed away steadily as the energy settled within her. She had finally compressed her magic to only fill her small bathroom, only a little bigger than her range had once been but it was far denser now. She wondered if it would even be possible for someone to stand in her range now. Though it had been compacted her magic still sent tendrils of power outward, feeling for any threats or outside magic sources; it was a defense and right then it had picked up the presence of a very large magic source approaching. Time moved differently for magic, so while it felt like minutes to Lucy it had likely been hours since she had gotten home. The cool water of her bath proved the point.

A sudden loud knocking at the front door made the blonde mage leap from the bath tub in surprise as she frantically tried to put herself together. She had just finished putting on her undergarments when the knocking came again, this time more insistent than before. She grabbed her shirt, "Just a minute! Who is it?" She called out and waited for an answer.

"Who do you think it is, Blondie?"

Lucy froze for the second time that day at hearing that voice. 'Laxus?' She thought, puzzled. Her eyes grew wide, 'Shit, Laxus! What do I do? What do I do?'

"Oi," He called back agitatedly, "What's the hold up?"

"Uh," She said unintelligently, "I was in the shower! Just give me a sec!" 'Not exactly a lie.' She grabbed her keys frantically and rushed back to the bathroom. "Open, gate of the twins! Gemini!" She whisper-shouted.

The spirits appeared before her, already in the form of a towel clad Lucy. She face palmed. 'Exactly what I need, but why did they come here already like that? Do they just stay in that form all the time?! Sweet Mavis, I hope not!"

"Alright guys," Lucy whispered, "I need you to go in there and talk to Laxus. Get him to leave as soon as possible, and no funny games! Just get him to leave without acting out of character! Not even for a second! Got it?"

"You got it!" The Lucy lookalike whispered back confidently. With a single touch the spirit had copied all new and recent memories from their master before adorning a confused expression and striding into the main room.

The real Lucy shut the door so it was only open a crack and crouched down to the floor. She didn't dare look through the crack though, instead she focused on keeping her magic in check despite her slight panic. She heard the door open.

"Laxus?! What are you doing here?" Gemini asked, sounding both surprised and confused.

"Che, not even gonna invite me in, Blondie?" She heard her guest sneer.

Gemini humphed, "I hope you realize you're blonde too, genius." The copy mumbled. The sound of footsteps signaled that Gemini had stood aside to allow the slayer entrance. "So care to tell me what you're doing here so late?"

There was a long silence before the male spoke, "You dropped this." He said nonchalantly.

"My hat!" Gemini exclaimed, "Where did you find it?"

"I was in the neighborhood and I found it in the gutter, recognized it as yours. Thought I'd return it." He replied loftily. There was a wet, 'shlop' sound as Laxus tossed the soaked hat somewhere, not really caring.

Lucy's eyes narrowed and she had a feeling so did Gemini's. "What else? It's more than that. How did you even know where I lived, and why would you be 'in the neighborhood' in the rain?"

"Idiot blonde," He muttered, "it stopped raining over an hour ago. As to how I found you, everyone has a distinct scent to them; scent tracking is child's play." There were more footstep in the other room. Lucy could only assume the slayer was exploring her home. The steps stopped. "Only, I admit I had some difficulty tracking your scent, considering you smell completely different from how you did this morning." Lucy held back a gasp. "It's similar enough, I almost didn't notice the difference earlier; or at least it was similar. Now it's completely different. I was lucky to have caught a whiff of it back at the guild or I never would have known what to look for." The obvious accusation in his voice made Lucy nervous.

The shuffling of feet was heard again and then the soft rumpling of paper, "Put that down, Laxus! I don't know what it is you're accusing me of? I tried a new perfume out, okay? Clearly it wasn't what I was hoping for!"

"Oh no, Blondie," The male rumbled and there was the sound of rapid footsteps. Unable to stop herself, Lucy peered through the crack in the door, to find a very surprising scene. Laxus had Gemini back up against the wall, his arms caging them. There was a sudden spike in magic in the small apartment as Laxus leaked more and more of his own into the room. Lucy pulled every bit of her own power that she could close to her in the hopes of remaining undetected. A moment of concentration and she could again see the particle of magic in the air as Laxus pushed his own feelers through the residence. His magic reach was only inches from hers, and if it touched hers the resistance would immediately alert the blonde male of her presence. With great concentration, though little physical effort, Lucy persuaded Laxus's magic to slide into hers, allowing no resistance to stand in its way. The sensation of having someone else's power flow through hers sent shivers down her spine. A moment later, the magic retreated and dissipated. Lucy let out a silent sigh of relief. She had gone unnoticed. "You're not wearing any 'new perfume'- if that's the story you're going with- you smell just like old Lucy. It's your master that smells different."

Lucy failed at hiding her shocked expression, as did Gemini. Laxus laughed, "I'm not some idiot, Blondie. I recognize you, towel and all, from the Grand Magic Games though I don't remember your name in particular."

"Gemini," They replied promptly with a glare.

"Oh right, the Twins, or something, right?" The spirit nodded sharply. "Well Gemini, I don't know what that busty Master of yours is hiding," 'Busty?!' She silently bristled. "But I will find out one way or another. I know better than to think she's planning anything that could hurt the guild, but that doesn't mean she has any right to keep what she's doing a secret from the rest of us! I don't like secrets." He growled.

"Master Lucy's business is her own! It doesn't concern you! You have no right to criticize her after all she-"

"Yes?" He smirked.

Gemini froze a moment, before smirking herself much to Laxus's surprise. The expression looked so unnatural on Lucy's face. Faster than Laxus could see Gemini's hands were wrapped tightly around both his wrists and in a flash their positions were switched. Instead of Lucy caged to the wall, there was one Laxus pinning another viciously to it. Gemini's smirk, though now on Laxus's face, was wicked as they held the original Laxus to the wall. The spirit's voice came in a perfect echo of the lightning mage's. "Personality download: complete."

"Damn spirit," Laxus growled, all the while trying to free himself from Gemini's grip. It was pointless, of course; the two were the exact same and thus perfectly matched in strength.

"Oh, how the tables have turned," Gemini chuckled, "You're both lucky and unlucky that I now know everything about you." The real slayer froze for a moment in which his look-alike released him. The spirit spoke calmly, "Since you mean no harm to our Master or the guild, we'll let you leave without incident. I doubt we would have won against you anyways if it came to a fight; we're not use to having this much power."

The blonde mage growled but made no move to act. He just spent a long moment staring at his copy, sizing him up. "Whatever it is Lucy's hiding," He started, "It won't be a secret for long; nothing ever is in this family. Make sure the Blondie knows that." He turned to leave not bothering with any further explanation.

"I'm sure she already does." The twins replied quietly, knowing Laxus would hear regardless. The slayer paused in the doorway.

"Hn." And then he was gone, closing the door behind him.

* * *

**Good? Bad?** **So horrifying your eyes bleed? Well I should hope not! **

**PLEASE READ! I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO EXPLAIN MY THOUGHT PROCESS LATER!**

**So I know a lot of you are probably wondering about the bar fight, and how the hell Laxus supposedly beat everyone else in Fairy Tail. Answer: He didn't! The way I see it, Fairy Tail isn't exactly the most rational guild. My thoughts: Let's say Gray had a very powerful and well aimed _Ice Lance_ at the ready to strike at Laxus, but Natsu being the ever over zealous one jumps in the way with a _Fire Dragon's Roar _and is hit instead of Laxus with Gray's attack. So angry is he that he completely forgets what he was doing and goes after Gray instead, as Natsu tends to do. The two's fight eventually pulls Cana, whose beer was spilled, and Elfman, who thought it was a very manly fight he just couldn't be left out of, from the "Hey, let's maim Laxus," fight and into theirs. As you can imagine, eventually everyone would forget why they were fighting in the first place and an all out brawl would ensue eventually taking out everyone. EXCEPT Laxus who was smart enough to withdraw when he could from the madness once he realize the target on his back for alleged misdeeds had faded.**

**Understand? Good! I'm glad! Now this isn't what actually happened to a tee, but you get the general idea. The rest I leave up to your own imagination. I do think the fight would be quite funny to read, so if enough of you ask for it I might be willing to write out the fight scene maybe. Let me know what you think!  
**

**I really appreciate the continued support this story despite it not being very far along yet! Also thank you for all of your reviews, BUT as much as I hate being a review Nazi but I would REALLY appreciate a little more substance to the reviews. I know it's time a lot of you don't want to waste, but it helps me make the story better. Just saying you liked it doesn't give me much to go off of. Tell me what you liked about it, or what you hated! I aim to please! **


	4. Powers and Persuasion

**Bleh, Willow is too sleepy for silly/funny intro! XP Read, and enjoy! Please see AN at bottom!**

**Willow owns nothing of Fairy Tail!**

* * *

**What I Would Give: Chapter 4**

**Powers and Persuasion **

By: Thorn

Lucy refused to move from her spot till Gemini returned to her; they would know when Laxus was far enough away for safety. Five or so minutes later there was a light tapping on the door Lucy was so closely pressed against. The dark blonde mage moved away from the door quickly and allowed her spirit to open it. Even though she knew who it was, she couldn't shake the nervous feeling she got when Gemini entered the small bathroom in Laxus's form.

As if sensing her discomfort, the twin spirits reverted to their Lucy copy. "No need to worry, he's not even on Strawberry Street anymore. I think he's heading somewhere near the edge of town. He won't bother you again tonight, Hime-chan." The spirit grinned.

The residual tension drained from the mage's expression. She sighed, "Thanks, Gemini. I should have thought about my scent." With great force, she stood from her crouched position on the floor, releasing her tight coat of magic. It diffused into the room, like water seeping into earth. Gemini stiffened slightly, before letting out a content sigh, as if they were comforted by their master's magic.

"No worries, Hime-chan," the twins grinned, "I think we handled it quite well, considering. We should have thought about him being able to smell us, but memories are one thing, downloading just one physical aspect of a person is complicated."

"No, don't worry about it. I'm sure when Loke gets back we'll be able to figure something, an excuse or disguise, or whatever. You can go on back now, you two." Lucy smiled gratefully. The Lucy lookalike looked suddenly bashful, awkward. "What's wrong?"

The spirit took a moment before answering, "Well," they said, "The thing is, we were wondering if we could hang out for a little while here?"

"But," the blonde said, confused, "You guys shouldn't be here for so long. I don't want you two hurting yourselves for my sake. I'll be fine by myself until Loke gets back."

The spirit shifted nervously from foot-to-foot, "See that's the thing. It's not really for your sake; it's for ours. It's- well, we don't really get much time to spend with you since we can usually only stay out long enough for battles. But after whatever happened between you and Luminara, it's almost like you're emitting spirit world energy, or at least that's what it feels like, so maybe something similar to it. It almost feels purer, but we can't say for sure; we'd ask Loke-sama about that. Being with you here just feels refreshing now, not draining like normal."

"So," Lucy asked, "So you guys wanna stick around here for a little while?"

Gemini waved their hands frantically, "Not if it's a problem for you of course! We'd never want to bother Hime-chan!"

"Oh, no!" she exclaimed, "It's no problem at all! I'm just not used to anyone but Loke being able to, you know, 'hang out.' So long as you won't be straining yourself I don't see why you couldn't stay for a little while."

Gemini grinned and leapt towards their master, wrapping her in a gleeful hug, "Yeah! You're the best, Hime-chan! I'd say we should get to know each other, since we've never really had much of a chance to talk casually, but we already know everything about you. Maybe Hime-chan would like to know more about us?"

After a moment to shake off the sudden whiplash by Gemini's rapid talking, the mage held them at arm's length, smiling gently, "I'd love to get to know you two!" she exclaimed while leading the twins from the bathroom and into the main room. "I guess it'll also be good in case any other unexpected visitors show up, let's just hope it's no one as perceptive as Laxus!"

"Hmm," Gemini sighed offhandedly, "Now that is one _fine_ form!"

Lucy blinked. Then blinked again, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing. Just that he's both strong and smart! And you're right about him being perceptive, it's like he notices _everything!_ Not to mention he is _hot!_" The pair were now seated on opposite chairs, the copy spirit grinning widely.

She blinked once more, "Hot?"

"Oh, don't act as if you haven't noticed," they winked, "From the data we've compiled, he's definitely your type. Well built, well trained, and well hung we're sure!" they grinned lecherously.

"Ew, Gemini!" she protested, but the spirit continued anyways.

"He's smart, but not overly obnoxious about it, caring with a moderate but not overly pronounced sense of humor. He's a leader, but doesn't let the responsibility of it go to his head; not anymore at least! He's protective and takes responsibility seriously." Their expression had dulled to a more serious and calculative one as they reviewed what data they had on the subject. They paused before grinning again, "He also has that dark, brooding type attitude; real rugged, you know? And beyond that you've openly thought he was hot."

"Well sure," Lucy admitted after processing all her spirit had laid on the table. She pouted lightly, lips pursing in thought, "I think a lot of guys are hot."

"You've also thought he was cute!"

"I've thought more guys were cute than I've thought ones were hot," she consented, "Natsu's cute and hot, Gray's cute and hot, Gajeel's just plain hot but he does have his cute moments I suppose, but most of those are when he's with Levy, Freed's cute, not really hot, Loke's cute and hot even if he is like a brother to me, it's just a fact. The list goes on and on, and I'm not afraid to admit it, at least not to you guys, anyway! You guys should already know all this!" She stood from her spot and headed towards to kitchen, "You guys want something to drink? _Can _you guys have something to drink from here?"

"Course we can!" they laughed. Lucy returned a moment later with two glasses of iced tea. Gemini took the glass offered to them, uttering a grateful "thanks." Lucy reclaimed her spot on the chair across from her spirit. "And of course we already know all this stuff! We just like hearing you admit it! If you care to know, Laxus thinks you're hot too, though, and I bet he'd think you're _smokin'_ now!"

The blonde mage choked, spewing out her tea in a dramatic spray. "Wh-what?!"

Gemini let out a rolling laugh, "You realize most people in the guild think you're hot too, right?! Secret polls amongst the guys place you as third most attractive girl in the guild behind Mirajane in first and Erza in second. Cana's right behind you though! We think her daily drunken escapades ruin her appeal for some people, though. The polls have the guys rank all the girls from hottest to least hot. Laxus, for example, has ranked you in first in all the polls since you entered the guild."

"I find that hard to believe, Gemini." Lucy laughed.

"But it's true!" they exclaimed, "You also meet all his ideal characteristics! You're strong, smart, caring but not overbearing. You don't get into pointless fights but that doesn't mean you don't have fiery temper. You are capable of standing up for yourself, but are willing to let someone else do it for you in some cases. Independent but not antisocial; all characteristics the slayer is looking for in a prospect mate."

"Mate?" Lucy asked skeptically.

"Well they are dragon slayers!" Gemini grinned, "Dragons don't have marriage, so neither do their slayers. Of course, mating is difficult for them since any mate they'd have would die long before they would."

"Oh yeah," Lucy whispered. "Natsu told me about that." Dragon slayers were the ultimate weapon back during the Dragon Wars; a normal human lifespan would never do. They had to be sturdier, longer lasting and youthful, otherwise they would never have been as effective. Sad thing was there was no way to match a mate's lifespan to a dragon slayer's, and since a dragon could only ever have one mate they were doomed to live most of their lives alone. Normally, dragon slayers would mate each other or with other slayer types but there were few around anymore. Wendy and Chelia were the only female slayers left, with far more males around.

"If you think about it, it'll be the same case for you, now. Except you'll be able to find someone else should your, um, loved one ever pass." Gemini said thoughtfully, probably feeling slightly guilty for bringing up the fact. "I guess that makes you an even better choice of mate for Laxus then!"

"Gemini," Lucy said dryly, "I don't know where this is all coming from, but I'll humor you. Has Laxus ever openly, _clearly_, thought, he likes me?"

Gemini shrunk away a little bit, their excitement dying down as they brought their knees to their chest in the chair, "Well no," they said, before perky up again, "But it's much more difficult to read subconscious thoughts. Maybe he likes you, but doesn't realize it yet!"

"Uh-huh," Lucy sounded more than skeptical, and plenty sarcastic "That _must_ be it."

"Look, all we're saying is that you and Laxus are completely and utterly perfect for each other!" they pouted, "If you want we can resume his form, see if there are any more memories we can access."

"No Gemini," Lucy breathed, as if she'd had the same conversation a hundred times. In a way she had, only not with Gemini, but as it seemed now they could be almost as ruthless as Mirajane. "You know I don't like invading my guild mates' privacy. You've done enough for today. You knowing is one thing, you telling me is another." She paused, eyes widening in sudden realization, "Hey! How the hell did you even copy Laxus?! You've never been strong enough before!"

Gemini chuckled, "Oh, Hime-chan! It's not us who hasn't been strong enough, it's _you _who's never been strong enough!"

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Lucy yelled indignantly.

"With most masters we can only hold the data from one copy at a time." The spirit explained, "With your power we could hold two, but either way we can only copy people of equal or lesser power than you. Romeo, for example, would have been easy since his power is significantly weaker than yours. Someone like Gray was more difficult since he was right on par with your power. And of course, before, a subject like Erza or Natsu would have been impossible since she was a lot stronger than you." They grinned. "Of course, now, we could easily copy anyone in the guild, like say Laxus or even Master Makarov."

"Alright, then how many copies can you hold now?"

"Don't know till we try! If we go off of by what percentage your power has increased by, well…" The spirit trailed off, getting a distant look in her eyes and not speaking for several minutes.

"Gemini?"

They snapped back to reality with a sharp jerk. "We're unable to calculate your precise power level but if derived from the fact that your new found power was gifted to you with the intention of having you defeat Zeref, you must be at least as strong if not more so the him." They spoke rapidly not even stopping for breath. "Zeref's power is also unknown however he would be the only person alive to be able to kill the dragon Acnologia, leading us to believe he is more powerful than Acnologia. Acnologia's power, based off of the data gathered from his high level roar which destroyed Tenroujima, has been estimated to be at least fifteen times as strong as Fairy Tail's finest, with said members being about a hundred times stronger than Hime-chan at her previous power when combined. Therefore it can be said that-"

"Gemini!" Lucy groused.

Gemini blinked, "Yes, Hime-chan?"

"In conclusion?"

"Oh!" they laughed nervously, rubbing the back of their neck, "I'd say we can copy and hold about 90 forms, maybe more or less, but you get the picture!"

"Huh," Lucy said thoughtfully and with wide eyes, "Well, that's quite a lot. If you have so many slots to spare, you think we should download all the key guild members? You'll be keeping all the personal information to yourself. I have no interest in everyone beating on me because I know all their deep dark secrets."

"Oh, sure, sure Hime-chan! I can copy Loke-sama back home and tomorrow we can go into the guild. All I have to do is accidently bump into everyone and bing-bang-boom, we have our own arsenal of diverse powers!"

They sat in comfortable silence for a few peaceful minutes, sipping their tea in content thought.

"Hey," Lucy started, "Gemini?"

"Hmm?"

"You don't think he knows, do you?" She asked, a pensive, slightly worried, look on her face.

The twins blinked in confusion, "Who knows what?"

"Laxus," the dark blonde supplied, "Do you think he knows I'd have to be stronger than him in order for you to copy him?" She seemed to be getting antsier on the topic as her spirit thought.

"Oh yeah! Levy explained it to a bunch of people back during the Games! I'm sure Laxus would have heard it through the grapevine by now!" they exclaimed, seeming very pleased with themselves. Their mirth instantly died, "Oh shit."

"You mean he-" she could feel her famous temper bubbling to the surface. She stifled it quickly, grabbing one of her decorative pillows from behind her and stuffing her face into it. A still very loud, though muffled, scream sounded through the small living space. Gemini raise a pointed finger to speak again, but was cut off by another scream seconds later. Lucy shot up, throwing the pillow away from her and across the room. "So basically, by copying him you just shoved in his face that I'm stronger than him now?! Gah!" She grabbed another pillow and muffled her frustrated cries. She threw that one away too. "He'll figure it out for sure now!" she half whined, half cried. "And then he'll tell his team, and then they'll tell everyone, and then everyone will come after me for one reason or another! Why does everything have to be so _complicated?!_"

Gemini leaned forward quickly, bowing in penance. "We're so sorry, Hime-chan! We should have thought that-"

"No, don't worry about it!" she sighed, already her anger was cooling down. She was left feeling utterly drained from the whole situation. She yawned, "It's not your fault Gemini; it's not anyone's fault. You did the best you could, that's all I ever ask for."

A side glance at their master, and they realized just how taxing the day must have been for her. "Well, I think it's about time we head home! As much fun as this has been I think we all need some rest. You need anything before we head back?"

"Nah, I think I'm good. Thanks for everything today you two, and make sure Virgo and Loke know how thankful I am too. If it weren't for you all I-"she couldn't find the words, "Well, I think I would be losing even more sleep at night!" she laughed halfheartedly. The mage stood and stretched her back, trying to work the stiffness in her shoulders and lower back out. The spirit followed suit, surprising the blonde by encasing her in a warm hug.

"We'll always be here for you, Hime-chan!" they whispered with tender affection. They pulled away, holding their master at arm's length. They tilted their head with a cute grin, "This was fun! We should definitely do this again!" they giggled, "I mean, if you want to," they finished sheepishly. "We got kinda off track!"

Lucy laughed at Gemini's enthusiasm, "I'd love that, Gemini! I really would," she smiled.

"We'll see you later then," they smiled. With a poof, towel-clad Lucy was gone and in place were the two spirits in their original forms. "Stay safe, Hime-chan!" They poofed away, leaving their master in her quiet apartment. She let out a deep, drawn out sigh, her shoulders slumping forward. For whatever reason, she really didn't feel like being alone that night.

Regardless of her want, she shuffled to her bedroom and threw herself into bed, moaning softly into her pillow. Sleep came to her almost instantly, something Lucy wasn't entirely sure she was thankful for, however when the nightmares never came she knew she had something to be grateful for.

The next morning found her in lifted spirits. The lack of her routine night terrors left her feeling more refreshed than she had in a long while. She walked with a bounce in her step as she went about her old morning routine. Loke was surprised to find her showered, dressed, and fed by the time he arrived.

From under all her mini skirts, crop tops, and midriff shirts, Lucy had unearthed an old pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt to wear with her boots; however the shirt had a low neckline that allowed for plenty of marks to be shown. The mage found herself wishing that it was winter, giving her an excuse for wearing all her more wintery clothing. Alas she was not so lucky. When the lion sprit arrived, it was very clear he was quite peeved with her abandonment of him the day before.

"Morning, Lucy," he greeted tersely. His arms were crossed over his finely dressed chest, his face lowered in the faintest resemblance of a pout.

"Morning Loke! I'm happy to see you're still standing," she grinned, completely ignoring his displeasure. Her unexpected jovial greeting left Loke a bit out of sorts, drawing him slightly out of his brooding.

"I'm guessing you slept well?"

"Better than ever!" she laughed. She moved from her bedroom to the living room, throwing herself sideways into an armchair. "So I was thinking we could go out to some of the magic shops today, see if they have some kind of disguise charm. I'm sure Gemini told you about Laxus's little late night visit? So we'll also need to get something to hide my scent since we have so many nosy dragon slayers in the guild." She paused, before bursting out in laughter, "Ha! Nosy, that's a funny one."

He stared at her strangely for a minute before chuckling along with her. "Well I'm glad to see you back to your old self again, well for the most part," he sighed. He seated himself against the end table's edge. "The magic shops shouldn't be too difficult to handle we can bring Virgo in for your makeup and you still have your hat right? Laxus gave it back to you?"

"Yeah," she replied, "He threw it somewhere around here. I can find it. I can do my own makeup today, I've got the stuff for it. I can take care of that while you look for my hat?" The spirit nodded in consent and they both set to work. Before even leaving the apartment, Lucy was careful to reel in her magic so close that someone would have to touch her in order to feel it. The pressure it left on her was bearable enough for now, or at least until they got to the shops and found some kind of power limiter. Of course Lucy hoped that with enough practice she would no longer need it.

And so, twenty minutes later, disguised with her big hat and layers upon layers of cream colored cover up, the duo left the apartment to go out on the town. Magnolia was once again bustling since the rain had long since moved out and to the East. They had stopped in three different shops before they found what they needed, a necklace that could take a picture of person and project the image on whoever wore it. They had to go to two more stores before they found a something to keep her magic contained without her constant concentration on the task. It was also in the form of a necklace, although it wasn't really her style. It was a gaudy looking skull pendant with chains wrapped around it, probably symbolic of something. Lucy had grimaced when she saw it, but it was cheap, strong enough for the job, and above all it was the only option they had. Loke took the time to ask for an extra-long chain for it so she could at least hide it under her clothing. When she put it on she immediately felt cramped as the bobble forcibly pushed her magic back into her inner reserves, corking it so nothing seeped out.

Nothing could be found for her scent so they formulated the story that some potion fell on her while they were shopping for keys in the magic shops. It wasn't entirely untrue, they had checked in the shops they had visited for keys, but none had any in stock much to her dismay. It seemed keys were harder and harder to come by nowadays.

"So Gemini told you about wanting to copy some of Fairy Tail's members, right?" she asked curiously.

He nodded to himself, "Yeah," he said, "they told me. It's not a bad idea, but I'm not entirely sure I like the thought of them parading around as me."

"Well," the blonde replied thoughtfully, "you could _both_ come with me to the guild and say that Gemini just wanted a chance to hang around for a little while. It might be better for us all since no one will be able to tell which you is the real you. Then Laxus and everyone else can't afford to get mad at you for your little stunt yesterday since they run the chance of hurting the wrong Leo."

"Huh, never thought of that!" he grinned, "Then by all means, call them out!" She grinned back at him, reaching for her key.

She raised the key before calling, "Open, Gate of the Twins! Gemini!" And Gemini was suddenly standing before them, only in Laxus's form. The lightning mage copy was grinning smugly at the two shorter people. "Gemini! What are you doing in that form?!"

"Oh," they drawled, in Laxus's deep voice, "you know. Just having some lighting fueled fun with Monoceros back home. He's extremely impressed with Laxus's power, says he's looking forward to the day you find his key so he can play with the original."

"That's fine, but change back into me! We need a picture so I can it project on me." Lucy explained holding up her newly bought necklace.

"You got it boss!" In a puff of smoke they appeared in their favorite form of Lucy in a towel. "This better, Hime-chan?" they winked.

Lucy rolled her eyes, shaking her head before holding up the necklace to face the twins. She fed a little bit of magic into the trinket, and it flashed brightly. "Did it work?" Loke questioned, brow furrowed in curiosity.

"Only one way to find out." She slipped the necklace over her head. Her form shimmered lightly, but there didn't seem to be any difference. Now it was Lucy's turn to ask, "Did it work?" Loke gripped the brim of her hat and flipped it off her head with a flourish. Wavy blonde hair rolled out from under the hat and onto her shoulders. There were no black strands or floating jewels in it. It had worked.

"Hey, we could practically be twins now!" Gemini grinned, laughing at their own little joke.

Lucy sweat dropped while Loke chuckled at the spirits playfully. The lion spirit held out his hand to the twins, "Might as well get your copy now so we get going to the guild. I'm sure Lucy will be wanting her lunch soon." Gemini gripped Loke's hand and with their customary smoke display they had taken form. And so two Leo the lions and one Lucy Heartfilia arrived at the Fairy Tail guild hall.

Today seemed to be a much more peaceful day than the previous one. No brawls were going on, at least none yet. There was one small skirmish going on between two of the newbies to the guild, but it was unlikely it would grow. Mira was at the counter, as always, gathering dirty dishes from the lunch rush. She smiled up at them when she saw them coming, but blinked in confusion when she noticed there were in fact _two_ Lokes today. "Lucy," she laughed, "you come in yesterday with one Loke, and today you come with two! Will there be three tomorrow?"

The blonde laughed in return, "No Mira. Loke just didn't want to risk being attacked by the guild after all the trouble he caused yesterday, so he brought a decoy today."

Mira's expression turned serious, "It was no trouble, Lucy! After what Laxus tried to do-"

"He didn't do anything Mira," Gemini interjected, a perfect impression of Loke. "I just thought the day was a little stale, that it could use some livening up! I found the fight to most enthralling, though. And it's not every day Laxus finds himself up against an entire _guild_ of skilled and angry mages. I'm sure the experience was very enlightening for him." They grinned, all very amused with the situation. The real Loke glanced over his shoulder at Laxus who was glaring up a storm at the two lions. "I promise you though, that Laxus has never had any ill intention towards our precious Lucy, at least none that I know of."

"You mean-" Mira stuttered before giggling lightly to herself, "You are a mischievous one, Loke. And the fight was a lot of fun, at least until I was knocked out!"

"No hard feelings, then?" the real Loke asked, grinning identically to his copy.

"None at all!" she smiled, waving the subject off. "But I doubt Laxus would be as forgiving," she whispered.

"Oh, believe me! He wasn't!" Gemini laughed. "I'm sure you'll spread the word of Laxus's innocence then?"

"Sure thing, guys!" Mira nodded.

She left the three companions with a strawberry smoothie and two beers, with one spirit on either side of Lucy. Lucy leaned forward and the others did the same, "So, you guys wanna start mingling now? It'd be best if both of you went together so neither of you seem out of character from the other. I can stay here, so once you two think you have enough copies you come back and we can leave. Sound good?"

They nodded and simultaneously leaned in even closer to Lucy and planted identically dramatic kisses to either of her cheeks, "No problem, hime!" they grinned. The two lions stood and swung an arm around each other's shoulders. With one last nod to their master, they spun around and started chatting it up with the rest of Fairy Tail.

"Luce!" someone from across the guild shouted. Lucy turned around curiously. Her eyes widened marginally when she saw Natsu racing across the room towards her. She felt something in her chest tighten the closer he got. He was wearing his usual grin and was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. "Luce," he said again when he finally reached her, "It's so good to see you!" he hugged her, "We were wondering if you were sick or something since you weren't showing up at the guild for so long. You weren't sick were you? Are you ok?"

The blonde laughed at her friend's concern, "Don't worry Natsu, I'm just fine! I just needed to take a few personal days, you know? I promise I'm fine now, though!"

Natsu let out a long breath of relief. "Good! I can't afford for my partner to be sick, can I? We've got so many jobs rolling in. There are some really big ones with great pay for your rent! And if you want we could go-" he stopped abruptly and began sniffing the air. He leaned closer and closer towards Lucy until their noses were almost touching. "You smell weird, Lucy!"

Lucy was quick to respond, "Yeah, Loke and I checked out some of the magic shops for gate keys this morning and this random guy in there hit a shelf and knocked some potion on me." Lucy explained, her best pout on her face at the inconvenience of the supposed situation, "We got it all washed off, but apparently it was a water additive for plants that's supposed to make them change color in accordance to mood or atmosphere, or something. On people though, as we found out, it changes their scent. It isn't too bad, is it? What do I smell like, nothing disgusting I hope?"

"Oh, don't worry! You smell perfectly fine, just really different. I like it though, I like it a lot, almost as much as your actual scent, maybe a little more! You smell kinda like," he took another whiff, nodding to himself as he processed and memorized it, "Like cotton, and clean things! And humid air with lilacs and water. It's just really, _really _clean! And you don't smell, um, I don't know how to put it but…"

"Well," Lucy tried to help, "what did I used to smell like?"

"Strawberries and happiness," he replied instantly.

"H-happiness?" she blinked.

"Yeah! The strawberries were from your detergent so I can still smell some on your clothes, but it isn't sticking to you anymore. And you've always smelled like happiness, it's just how you are. But now it's different, you smell more like… triumph, or maybe victory; it's _really_ weird, just like you Luce! Triumph and lilacs and water, or maybe fog. But you also smell clean!" he scratched his head in frustration, "See, all people have this… human smell to them. Just about everyone's got it; everyone but the dragon slayers. The smell is kinda dirty, not a bad dirty, it's kinda sweet, actually. Igneel told me people smell like that because they're aging, and will eventually die. You smell kinda like a dragon slayer, like you don't have that little bit of decay like everyone else, but you don't _actually_ smell like one of us. I don't know, is any of this making sense?" he looked up at her sheepishly.

"Y-yeah," she stuttered just as awkwardly, "but don't worry about it, Natsu. It's not really a big deal. I was just curious, don't hurt yourself by thinking too hard about it."

"Hey!" he protested indignantly, "I can think just fine! It's not my fault that potion made your scent all weird and confusing! I already said it wasn't bad! I really like it! I'll miss your old scent, but I'm sure your house still smells like your old scent so I'll just stop by later for old time's sake before the smell goes away."

Lucy fumed, "Natsu, you don't just get to invite yourself over on a whim like that! If you're going to come over, then at least use the door or ask before you come over!" she yelled.

"Yeah, yeah sure thing Lucy!" he grinned, turning and waving as he headed toward the guild doors, "Just make sure you have lots of food stocked up for us!"

Lucy started to turn back to the bar but quickly remembered, "Hey Natsu!"

"Yeah Luce?" he shouted and turned back towards her.

"Do you know when Master Makarov will be back from the convention?" Lucy shouted.

"I think he said he'd be back by the end of the week, why?" he shouted back.

"No reason, see ya Natsu!"

"Bye Lucy!"

* * *

**Willow's Super Long Author's Note I Want You All To Read (pretty please)**

**And guess who's still alive! It's me, I'm alive! After almost a year of no updates, here's one for ya, kiddies! I know it's probably not what you were expecting, with Gemini being such an important character for this chapter, but I've always thought they were the one spirit we probably know the least about and is the most underappreciated! Meaning there's a lot of room for interpretation, so you'll** **so you'll have to bear with me because I really love the Twins! (Gemini; the spirit who ships unconditionally! XD ) **

**I know there was no Laxus in this chapter (not really at least) but the romance is gonna be a slow build, as I'm pretty sure I've said before. I also know that Lucy probably isn't quite like you all were thinking she would be, but I'm just trying my best to portray her as I remember her from the manga/anime. I think sometimes when there are so many stories, our perception of characters can be distorted by the fandom's interpretation. That's not a bad thing, I'm just trying to take this story in a different direction. **

**Finally, I **_**know **_**it's been so long since the last update, but with the loss of my beta reader I lost a bit (a really super huge bit, that is) of my confidence in publishing. Aside from that, work and schooling have to take president over my fanfiction. So I'm afraid this is about how often you guys will be getting an update, and I'm sorry about that but that's just how it's gonna have to be. You know, priorities, and shit! Just know though, that it was the most recent round of PMs/reviews that got me off my butt and updating this so thanks everyone for making sure I'm not slacking! Much love to all my readers, and anyone who might be interested in beta-ing for me, please PM me. Because a beta reader would mean more updates, sooner for you guys! Just keep that in mind!**


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